reconnaissance

re·con·nais·sance | \ ri-ˈkä-nə-zən(t)s

How to pronounce reconnaissance (audio)

, -sən(t)s\

Definition of reconnaissance

: a preliminary survey to gain information especially : an exploratory military survey of enemy territory

Examples of reconnaissance in a Sentence

There are two helicopters available for reconnaissance. They did a reconnaissance of the enemy's position.

Recent Examples on the Web That was in June, after the Iranian military shot down an unmanned U.S. reconnaissance plane. — John Cassidy, The New Yorker, "Trump’s Awful Middle East Policies Are Coming Back to Haunt Him," 17 Sep. 2019 Their service ceiling was 60,000 feet, stopping them from reaching the slow-moving unarmed reconnaissance plane. — Alex Hollings, Popular Mechanics, "Why the U-2 Is Such a Badass Plane," 4 Sep. 2019 Thursday's launches came as tensions in the Korean Peninsula flared up after South Korean fighter jets fired warning shots at a Russian reconnaissance plane earlier this week. — Fox News, "North Korea fires 2 short-range missiles into sea, US officials say," 25 July 2019 In recent years, long-range bombers and reconnaissance planes from the Russian and Chinese militaries have frequently entered South Korea’s air defense identification zone, though not together. — Choe Sang-hun, BostonGlobe.com, "South Korean jets fire warning shots toward Russian military plane," 23 July 2019 In recent years, long-range bombers and reconnaissance planes from the Russian and Chinese militaries have frequently entered South Korea’s air defense identification zone, though not together. — Choe Sang-hun, New York Times, "South Korean Jets Fire Warning Shots Toward Russian Military Plane," 23 July 2019 The drone that was shot down was a U.S. Navy RQ-4, a high-end reconnaissance plane that flies for 30 hours at a time 10 miles above the earth. — John Walcott, Time, "Trump Suggests Iran Mistakenly Shot Down a U.S. Drone. Iran Says It Was Very Much on Purpose," 20 June 2019 Eager to get eyes on the Soviet nuclear program, Eisenhower authorized the CIA to move forward with its own reconnaissance program. — Alex Hollings, Popular Mechanics, "Why the U-2 Is Such a Badass Plane," 4 Sep. 2019 Critics point out that cyberattack motives are hard to define—a cyberespionage or reconnaissance intrusion can often look a lot like a cyberwar attack in progress—and determining the identities of the hackers responsible can be even harder. — Andy Greenberg, WIRED, "The WIRED Guide to Cyberwar," 23 Aug. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'reconnaissance.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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reconnaissance in force

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Last Updated

6 Nov 2019

Time Traveler for reconnaissance

The first known use of reconnaissance was in 1779

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